Recent content by Tigershel

Another weave thing I have had on other bikes is loose head bearings. Can get masked by very stable tires, but switching to something more aggressive, brought it out.

TE headlight is useless. Back in the day that was my first upgrade. Fitted Baja Designs number plate / headlamp with 50W HID high beam and a 75W MR16 'low' beam. The stator has sufficient power that as well as an electric jacket / vest and a few other accessories (was living in the USA and...

You need to be a bit more expansive vis-a-vis envisaged riding experience, budget, riding style, weight, luggage, camping or not, type of roads (dirt, trails, tar) and so on. Most bikes can make it. Grease and Gravel (Youtube channel) did Cape to Cairo on basic 200cc commuter chinabikes. IIRC...

Itchy Boots would disagree with you...

W Well... I have had experience of bending alloy rims on both light and heavy bikes. And in neither case was the wheel replaced. When in the Philippines in 2013, I bent my YBR125G alloy rear wheel sufficiently that it could in no way hold air, and had to put in a tube to complete the trip...

Then you get the Voge 300 Rally around R69K... Made by Loncin to a supposedly higher spec. Seems to get reasonable reviews in the UK

I loaded OpenStreetMaps into a previous Garmin. I find that OSM is often better than Google when it comes to 3rd world countries. It's worth using both sources (Google and OSM) if you are doing trip planning. I use OSMAnd on my phone these days: no need for an internet connection once maps are...

They may look 'cool', but... I tested one back in 2006 or so, RE500 Classic I think it was, when I was still living in New Hampshire, USA. I was looking for something lighter for back and dirt roads, then the bikes I had. KLR was under consideration, along with the usual suspects. The Enfield...

Have ridden only 3 of the bikes on the list. Well, I owned a late-model R11GS, which is pretty close to the R1150GS. Off-pavement, I am just average (or not even average) and the GS is just too much bike. Too tall, too heavy, not really much good off pavement unless you are a riding god...

Sent too soon... Some things to consider: Servicing absolutely needs to be done to the book, and parts availability and price could be 'interesting' in SA. Things like slipping cam belts and damaged cylinders can result otherwise.... Stock tank range is quite limited, I had a 5 gallon fitted...

I had the 2006 blue-yellow (carbed) version when I lived in northern New England in the USA. Was one of my favorite bikes to ride, really a lot of fun, and the power and wide-ratio gearbox made it much better for road use than things like the bigger enduro bikes on the one hand, and stuff like...

SA prices are a bargain. My last service under warranty in the USA in the early 2000s was nearly $900. That excluded all the warranty work which came to over $2K at the time. Last ever BMW I owned. ZX12R I replaced it with cost a fraction of the price for servicing and way more reliable.

I had a GS in the USA years ago. Dealer in Memphis charged full rate for the first service, which included checking the battery etc. Rode it back to New Hampshire, to find a dry (destroyed) battery, leaking, over-tightened, cross-threaded oil drain bolt, and a few other issues. Local dealer...

Or search 'habal habal' (foofed / platform versions known as skylabs in a few provinces) bikes in the Philippines. Have seen these guys heading off on a single track trail with 8 or 9 people on board, no issues. Youtube: Skylab off pavement The below is a lightly loaded skylab on a unusually...

Used Avons for a while on my Kaw GTR1000 back in the late 20th very early 21st century, as they were one of the few making a reasonable / modern tyre that would fit. Never had the urge to use them on anything else. Looks like it's multinational cost cutting. Cooper Tire bought Avon back in...